A groundbreaking history of modern Britain that puts the experiences of disabled people to the fore for the first time.
'A timely and enjoyable untold history' PHILIPPA GREGORY, author of Normal Women
'A rare feat of a book: so many extraordinary stories, so many lost names, brought to light' RAYMOND ANTROBUS, author of The Perseverance
Despite there being more than 16 million disabled people in the UK today, disability rarely features in mainstream accounts of our past. That absence is not down to lack of evidence: it is a forgotten, suppressed history - the result of deliberate choices about whose histories matter. This remarkable book rectifies this.
Disability is a story of resistance and ingenuity, full of people who refused to be silenced or pitied. We meet the labourer who fights accusations in court that he's faking his disability, and wins; the painter who signs her royalty miniatures 'without hands'; and the one-armed textile worker who turned his injury into reform. We see how disabled people have rallied together to demand equality - fighting for their right to lead ordinary lives like everybody else.
This is a story not of progress led by doctors or philanthropists, but an extraordinary ground-up history of ordinary people demanding dignity and justice. By putting disabled people back into our national story, David Turner reveals a fuller and richer history of modern Britain than ever before.
'Gripping, profound and important' GABRIEL WESTON, author of Alive
'A lively, sensitive history' GAVIN FRANCIS, author of Recovery
'Truly fantastic' GRACE SPENCE GREEN, author of To Exist As I Am
| ISBN: | 9781847927583 |
| Publication date: | 4th June 2026 |
| Author: | David M Turner |
| Publisher: | The Bodley Head an imprint of Vintage Publishing |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 400 pages |
| Genres: |
History: specific events and topics Social discrimination and social justice Disability: social aspects |
A groundbreaking history of modern Britain that puts the experiences of disabled people to the fore for the first time.
'A timely and enjoyable untold history' PHILIPPA GREGORY, author of Normal Women
'A rare feat of a book: so many extraordinary stories, so many lost names, brought to light' RAYMOND ANTROBUS, author of The Perseverance
Despite there being more than 16 million disabled people in the UK today, disability rarely features in mainstream accounts of our past. That absence is not down to lack of evidence: it is a forgotten, suppressed history - the result of deliberate choices about whose histories matter. This remarkable book rectifies this.
Disability is a story of resistance and ingenuity, full of people who refused to be silenced or pitied. We meet the labourer who fights accusations in court that he's faking his disability, and wins; the painter who signs her royalty miniatures 'without hands'; and the one-armed textile worker who turned his injury into reform. We see how disabled people have rallied together to demand equality - fighting for their right to lead ordinary lives like everybody else.
This is a story not of progress led by doctors or philanthropists, but an extraordinary ground-up history of ordinary people demanding dignity and justice. By putting disabled people back into our national story, David Turner reveals a fuller and richer history of modern Britain than ever before.
'Gripping, profound and important' GABRIEL WESTON, author of Alive
'A lively, sensitive history' GAVIN FRANCIS, author of Recovery
'Truly fantastic' GRACE SPENCE GREEN, author of To Exist As I Am
Disability features in the following genres: History: specific events and topics, Social discrimination and social justice, Disability: social aspects
Disability is available in Hardback
Disability was written by David M Turner and published by The Bodley Head an imprint of Vintage Publishing
Disability has 400 pages
£22.50